The Belgians that lifted the curse

Unseen and unedited: Belgians have been in Valencia, all weekend long, and have NOT brought bad weather! Quite on the contrary, the December sun made it feel as if it were summer again! Those particular Belgians are Hilde and Laurein, two friends of mine from Leuven.

They arrived last Friday on the usual 3o´clock plane, so I went to pick them up after Sevillanas class. After dropping off the luggage at my place, I took them straight to Mercado Colón for a fresh horchata with a farton. By now, the Mercado Colón was fully decorated and ready for Christmas! It´s beautiful to see the city being gradually more and more decorated with a million little lights. After a ´Valencia by night´stroll through the city centre, we had Agua de Valencia at Plaza Negrito and tapas in la Vintara (which are actually the exact same places that I took Kobe and his family to, I´m not thát creative).

On Saturday morning we went to the Mercado Central. As Laurein and Hilde are what we in Belgium would call ´Bourgondiërs´, we spent almost all morning there, tasting cheese, serrano ham (well, some of us), buying fresh bread, and a kind of mushroom called ´Rebollones´. The lady who sold us the mushrooms also told us how to prepare them. With kilos of cheese, ham, and one kilo and a half of mandarins, we continued our walk through the city and visited la Lonja and Plaza Redonda. We had lunch IN the fountain of Plaza Redonda! The fountain was dry, that díd make our lunch a bit more comfortable... :-)

After lunch we had hot chocolate on a terrace near Torres de Serranos, which we climbed afterwards to burn the calories. :-) Then we walked by the Valencias Parliament, and I noticed that the doors were open. This weekend, the Parliament was having an "open door day", so I finally got to visit the inside! It was really beautiful, because Parliament in inside a 15th century palace. On top of that, we got free 2007 calendars! (With looooovely pictures of offices, meeting rooms and well, the Parliament). I just couldn´t resist addressing the Valencian Parliament about the important issue of mandarine maltreatment. I´m quite sure I´ll get elected for the next legislation. :-D

Anyway, afterwards, we visited the Cathedral and climbed the tower for the view over the city. On our way to the bus home, we got grilled chestnuts, yummy!

We prepared the mushrooms we had bought, the rebollones, as the lady in the mercado central had told us, and made risottto rice. My friends Hilde and Laurein are excellent cooks, so our meal was really tasty! After dinner, we went back to a part of the city called Ruzafa, where my german friend Lena lives. She took us to her favourite restaurant where they serve the best chocolate cake in the world. Goooood chocolate cake... mmmm.... Then, we went to a Moroccan teahouse for a glass of very sweet mint tea and - parents stop reading here - to smoke a waterpipe! As I have never smoked anything ever in my life before, it was a little weird in the beginning, but a waterpipe is filled with a really sweet kind of tobacco, and once you get the hang of it, it tastes, well, interesting. But not bad at all - parents start reading again - and while we were sitting there, a belly dancer emerged to give a live show! We had quite a multicultural evening. :-D

On Sunday we slept until 10, which was really necessary for me because I was still exhausted from a week with little sleep. We had breakfast at a Sunday morning pace, and then took the metro to the city centre to visit the ceramics museum, a must where I take everyone who comes to
visit. We took a stroll over Plaza del Colegio del Patriarca and tried to visit the church, but Sunday mass was being held. We also tried to visit the Basilica de la Virgen de los Desamparados, with the same problem. So we just entered Turia gardens and started walking east, to the sea. There are some curvy trees that are really inviting for a siësta... But first, we had a pick nick in the grass! The weather was better than great, it seemed like summer! After lunch we walked to the Gulliver - playtime! And then to Ciudad de las Artes y de las Ciencias, where they are currently displaying the yacht that won the last America´s Cup.

We still walked to the America´s Cup Port to see the miniature boats, but at that point we were all so exhausted we had to take a taxi home instead of walking. We went back to the city centre to have some tapas, before going to a flamenco show! Beautiful music, the guitar is so complicated and yet so harmonious. After the show, we still had a Valencian paella and a digestive tea in Café de las Letras, before going to sleep, exhausted but very satisfied.

Today I had class at 8:30 (paaaain...). Hilde and Laurein came to campus at 10 to have coffee in the cantine and so I could show them my campus. Then we took the metro to the beach and sat there, soaking up the sun, while our feet were soaking up the seawater. The weather was summery! There was even an old guy swimming in the sea!

Then it was time for Hilde and Laurein to go to the airport... always hard to see friends part, but the weekend was great!